Tipping for a seat upgrade?
 

Has anyone ever tried tipping a flight agent at check-in to get an upgrade to a different class of service? I feel like I've red this in a travel mag before under the "what do you have to lose?" guise, but I'm wondering if anyone has ever been successful doing this, particularly now that flights are often full or oversold.

If you have done this, how much did you offer the agent and what was the outcome?

Save your money - that won't work. The only way to insure you get an upgrade is to pay the going rate.

Nowadays, upgrades to the next higher class of service (assuming there are seats available) are given out to those flyers who have elite Frequent Flyer status. There are usually more requests for upgrades then there are seats available. On those rare occasions when there are empty seats in First or Business Class the airlines rarely give them out - they would rather let them stay vacant then give them out to "just anybody".

Thanks for your thoughts. That's kinda what I figured, although we are flying on Christmas to Germany, so I was thinking it might be a case where the plane is quite empty on that particular day. Then again, it could be the complete opposite and it's very full. Maybe the agent will be feeling generous because of the holiday-- a girl can dream... :)

My dad is brilliant at getting free upgrades. Go early, wait till the gate agent gets through those passengers lined up to get some problem fixed, give her a few minutes to breath, and then go for it when she has a lull. Wish her a happy holiday, introduce yourself, smile, recognize the fact that she's having to work on the holiday, and tell her something interesting about your trip (your first trip overseas, you're visiting the motherland for the first time, something...but make sure it's true). Then tell her you know you're asking for a lot and the chances are slim since you don't have elite status, but you'd really appreciate anything she could do to upgrade you.

The other alternative is to go up and ask her if a "better" seat is available - e.g. bulk head or exit row. Regardless of whether she can accomodate her request, hand her a box of cookies when she finishes helping you and tell her you brought her and the flight attendants some cookies because you felt bad for them working on christmas.

Either way, go sit down in her eye sight and read a book or something. Whatever you do, don't stare at her. If you happen to catch her eye accidentally. Just smile and continue on reading.

Anyway, I've found being polite, smiling, a sense of humor and offering to name my first child after the gate agent if they can help me get ______ (e.g. get on this flight, get an aisle seat, whatever) goes a long way.

Oh, and dress up but not over the top. Bring your comfy clothes in a bag and change once you are on the flight.

I wouldn't call offering a check-in/gate agent money to upgrade you a tip.

You don't need to tip or bribe. All you need to do is flirt:

flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=508516

If you intend to ask for an upgrade, it would help to know beforehand if there <i>are</i> seats available in FC/BC. I check it online before I ask. ((*))

I'd think that there wouldn't be many business travellers at Christmas time, but maybe more chance that economy is oversold. Check in online or at a kiosk to see if you are offered an option to pay for an upgrade. Figure $50 for a short-haul (500 miles or so). I'm not sure what the going rate these days is but I'd guess $500 or $600 for an ug to business class U.S. to Europe one-way.

Lots of business travelers also travel for liesure purposes around the holidays - many of them use their FF miles for award seats and/or upgrades to visit family and friends at this time of year. Holiday travel means full flights - don't expect too many, if any, empty seats in first or business class (exception flying on Christmas Day - plane loads are light).

Flight loads can be busy on Christmas Day as not everyone celebrates Christmas.

The going rate for an upgrade at the gate (ORD to FRA) was $599 just a few weeks ago. My original ticket was fairly cheap (economy), so yes, I paid toe $599 and I had a good sleep before landing in FRA around 9 in the morning! I've paid at the gate before this trip and will most certainly see about doing it again. I did not ask about the upgrade on the return trip (FRA to ORD) as it was a daytime flight and I was wide awake. No need to stretch out and get some sleep.
Carol

Thanks for the info, everyone, esp Hills. We are traveling on Christmas day, so we'll have to see if the load is light.

Jed- you mentioned checking online before asking- anywhere you can point me specifically online?

And Odin- sorry you didn't agree with the word &quot;tip.&quot; I'm on vacation, and didn't really care to search for another word for &quot;bribe.&quot;

You can check seat availability on the website for your particular airline. There will be a link somewhere in the &quot;reservations&quot; section - usually with a title like &quot;view available seats&quot;. Simply put in your flight number and date of travel, click on the class of service you are interested in seeing and viola! you see a graphic a seating chart that will tell you which seats are taken and which, if any, are vacant.

Expedia usually has the seat availability also. ((*))

Seatmaps aren't necessarily a good indicator as they show you the number of seats assigned which could be less than the number of seats sold. Use a site like seatcounter.com to check the number of seats still available for sale.

Or the other way around, a seat could appear to be reserved on the seatmap because it's blocked and not necessarily assigned.

Patty - I just looked at seatcounter, but am unable to figure out what is what. I want to know how many seats are left in FC and EC. How do I get that from booking classes? I am unable to find an explanation on the site. ((*))

There's some variance between what letters different carriers use for booking classes but in general full fare first is F, full fare business is J, and full fare economy is Y. Those are the fare classes that will be sold up until departure while the lower fare classes may be zeroed out. The maximum number that's displayed is 9 (or sometimes 7) in which case it means there are 9 or more seats available (it works best if you're checking flight loads in the near future as opposed to farther out). If you see something like:

J8 D4 I0

That means there are 8 seats total available for sale in the business cabin, 4 of which can be sold as discounted fares, and none of which can be sold as heavily discounted fares. Not that there are 12 seats available for sale.

This is just a hypothetical example and you'll need to find out which fare classes your specific carrier uses.

Isn't getting upgrades by flirting or dressing up or asking for special consideration because a couple is on their honeymoon or because it's Christmas mostly urban legend? Not that those have never worked, but I think gate agents will tell you they've heard and seen all the stories. As A_Traveller says, they don't give those seats away because that would devalue the product. They sell them for the going fares for that class of service, or with FF miles, or stickers (the credits toward upgrades you earn with each X number of miles flown ... at least that's the name AA gives them), or for upgrade fees sometimes available at check-in. If they need to bump someone up to business or first because coach is oversold, priority will be given to those passengers with FF status on the airline.

Thanks for the suggestion, and the explanation, Patty! I found this site yesterday when I was digging around, but like the other person, wasn't really sure what I was looking at. Your explanation was helpful :)

I'll have to look at Lufthansa's specific booking classes, I think. My flight is a bit tricky because our flight is ticketed on United, but it's operated by Lufthansa... good old code shares!

Jeff_Costa_Rica is absolutely correct; upgrade by flirt/honeymoon/etc probably never existed, and it certainly doesn't now. A gate agent who hands out upgrades will be fired in a flash.

Operational upgrades -- where economy is oversold, for example, and some economy customers are put in business or first -- do happen, though maybe not as often as some would hope. Each airline has its own system for determining who gets upgraded.

I have elite (Senator) status on Lufthansa, and I have yet to see them offer gate upgrades for cash. (Not to say it doesn't occur on LH, just that I haven't seen it.) I have seen it frequently on United.

In addition to what Jeff_Costa_Rica and others have said, keep in mind that some airlines have very specific policies that their gate agents are supposed to follow re: upgrades (if you don't believe me, go look on the United board at Flyertalk for the post from a former gate agent at Dulles...spelled out in extreme detail). While some will need to use a bit of discretion at times to get a flight out, they are generally not empowered to hand out upgrades however they see fit.

Y'all are just jealous of those of us that are cute. ;-)

I have a hard enough time getting upgrades with miles. :(

On a recent LH flight there was a very dapper, 60ish gentleman who seemed bent on getting an upgrade with his charm. It was an interesting spectator sport to watch.

Dressed to the nines - poofy scarf, slick, combed back hair, hankie in jacket pocket. His seat was front of coach cabin, one row a head of mine. During boarding he hovered in the biz class galley. He carried a box of chocolates, trying to find the head stewardess (purser?).

I could see him pointing to empty seats in biz, apparently asking if he could get one. After everyone else finally being seated (as plane was about to push back), he was still standing. The purser was finally brought to him. He handed over chocolates, had a quiet word, then sat down in his seat with a dejected look.

He never did get the upgrade, but they did bring him a biz class meal and wines.

Part of me felt happy for him to have the confidence and persistence he displayed, and part of me felt sad as he seemed to be almost groveling &quot;I deserve to sit in biz class, not back there in coach.&quot;

&quot;.....not back there in coach&quot;, with the unwashed....Heaven forbid!!

I do get upgraded frequently, but I'm requesting the upgrades when I make the reservation with the understanding that they may or may not come through, and that I will have to pay for them out of my FF miles or AA's stickers. But I never go into it thinking that I deserve anything.

If that's what the man the J62 described thought, that he &quot;deserved&quot; to sit in business, then he should have bought a business-class ticket. :)

My nephew and his fiance were to fly on Lufthansa from Boston via Munich to Krakow last April. Economy was oversold for BOS-MUC so they volunteered and accepted the denied boarding compensation: $600 each plus business class reservations for the next day. They spent the night in Boston. The next day the flight was again oversold and they were offered the same DBC. He wanted to collect again, but she insisted on going to KRK to finish prep for their wedding.

A few thoughts...

1. Seat availablity maps are NOT the same as &quot;unsold&quot; seats. They can show full on empty flights and vice versa.

2. A LOT depends on your airline. I fly Delta almost exclusively (I live in Atlanta) Your chances of any upgrade to Business on the DAY of travel slim and none! I have seen them &quot;begging&quot; for volunteers on an International flight, but letting Business Class seats go empty......THey don't sell gate upgrades and if you have &quot;el cheapo&quot; fare they aren't going to let you upgrade.

3. My Christmas Dzy flight to London is actually FULL. (I checked the unsold seats using a TA so I know the seats are sold)

4. I travel almost weekly on business. I cannot recall the last time the frequent flyers like me did not take every upgrade. I have NEVER actually met anyone who &quot;flirted&quot; or &quot;honeymooned&quot; thier way to an upgrade. (I think it is an urban legend LOL!) I did once &quot;polite&quot; my way into one. Got on my Delta flight from CDG to ATL and &quot;el jerk&quot; was in my seat. &quot;El jerk&quot; proceeded to tell FA that &quot;I am an MILLION MILE FLIER, &quot;I SPEND HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS on this airline&quot; etc... while I kept my mouth SHUT. FA comes back with my new seat... BUSINESS! If HALF of &quot;El Jerk's&quot; statements were true he should have outranked me on the upgrade lottery! However, I was not on the cheapest fare out there (I think it may have even been an upgradeable fare?) and I was at least a Gold level FF then.

In 2000, I had an awful day at the airport...delays, cancelled flights and rude seatmates. Near tears, I left the plan (we were delayed on the ground and this was before 9/11 when you could come and go as you liked) and was prepared to pay for upgrade certs, but I had to get away from the rude woman seated next to me (long story). As a UAL frequent flier, I use the certs provided, but NEVER pay for them...however, that day I was at the end of my rope and needed more space, a cocktail and a nap! As I was rambling about my day, the gate agent handed me my first class ticket and did not charge me for the upgrade. These days, however, everything is so much more automated, the gate agents don't seem to be able to do things like this anymore. I've had plenty more bad flight experiences since that time, but no more freebies.